Photo of the Day: Best of March 2009

Toad River Valley, Canada

Photograph by Michael Christopher Brown

This Month in Photo of the Day: National Geographic Magazine Features

Like curtains drawn across the landscape, the walls of the Toad River Valley yield to untracked forests and pure lakes in northeastern British Columbia. Years of compromise and careful planning defined the enormous Muskwa-Kechika Management Area here, where competing interests—from miners to outfitters, preservationists, and native peoples—coexist in delicate balance.

Chicago City Lights

Photograph by Jim Richardson

Chicago at night burns bright under blankets of clouds. Much of the glow escapes from streetlamps, including clear, Victorian-style lamps good for creating atmosphere but poor for harnessing today's extra-bright bulbs.

Tuckerman Ravine Rest, New England

Photograph by José Azel

The mountain's moods aren't all bad. Spring warmth draws crowds to New England's Tuckerman Ravine, including thrill seekers who attempt to ski a steep headwall. Others simply relax in the sun-washed glacial cirque and bask in the presence of the peak.

Stallions Fighting, South Dakota

Photograph by Melissa Farlow

Two stallions fight at a wild horse conservation center in South Dakota. It's an equine echo of an ongoing struggle across the western United States, where mustangs compete for space with ranching and energy development.

Illegal Miners, Ghana

Photograph by Randy Olson

Fevered by hopes of striking it rich, illegal miners claw sacks of "money stone"—gold ore—from the Pra River in Ghana. Their toil feeds the world's hunger for gold, and leaves a ruined landscape in its wake.

Brown Bears in Mist, Russia

Photograph by Michael Melford

In early morning mist that rolls in from the coast, two brown bears tussle like teenagers. "I was at this spot a year earlier and saw these bears doing the same thing," says John Paczkowski, a biologist with the Wildlife Conservation Society. "They sparred for about 40 minutes, taking breaks to eat a few berries." Bears in the Kronotsky reserve often encounter each other at salmon streams and seem to socialize more here than in some other food-rich areas.